1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a highly nervous dough composition for puff pastries which is excellent in puffing properties and mechanical resistance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the production of puff pastries such as pies, croissants and Danish pastries, a margarine, which is to be used exclusively therefor, shows a high plasticity and a high nerve and has a viscous and tough texture, is folded in or incorporated into a dough to thereby give puff pastries having a characteristic layered structure. Various attempts have been made, from the viewpoints of compositions and production methods, in order to impart desirable puffing characteristics to conventional fat compositions for puff pastries. It is believed, in particular, that smaller fat crystals would give a fat composition for puff pastries a dough with a more dense structure, a higher nerve and a better extensibility. Thus, there has been widely employed open type cooling drum complecters which can give fat compositions containing small fat crystals and having a high nerve and an excellent extensibility as compared with closed-type continuous tube coolers. From the viewpoint of the composition, it has been attempted to minimize changes in the solid fat content (SFC) within the working temperature range by adding liquid oils to high-melting fats or to improve the folding-in performance by combining various emulsifiers with each other (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 155043/1983 and No. 11142/1984).
U.S. Pat. No. 2,592,224 describes a margarine wherein the fat crystal size is controlled. However, this patent aims at disclosing a method for producing a margarine exhibiting a good meltability in the mouth and a good spreadability. Accordingly, it differs from the present invention in object. Further, the expression of "the good spreadability" of the margarine described in the specification of the U.S. Patent means that the margarine can be easily spread on, for example, bread. Therefore, "the good spreadability" as used in the above U.S. Patent is contrary, in a certain sense, to the high nerve at the extension to be established in the present invention. In addition, the crystal size of the margarine described in the U.S. Patent ranges from 3to 10 .mu.m.
The recent consumers' preference toward high-grade products presents a demand for fat compositions for puff pastries having an improved meltability in the mouth. When the melting point of a fat component is lowered, however, the plasticity and the nerve over a wide temperature range are damaged, which makes the handling of the fat composition difficult and deteriorates the puffing properties. Even when emulsifiers are combined with each other so as to improve the folding-in performance, as described above, the problems of changes in fat components and, in particular, a decrease in the melting point cannot be completely solved. As a result, the performance cannot be fully achieved in this case too.
In addition, the mass-production and mass-marketing of pastries in recent years have promoted the mechanization and automation of pastry production lines. As a result, an intense compressive force and an intense extensive force are applied to a fat for puff pastries which has been folded or incorporated in a dough. Accordingly, fats for puff pastries which have an excellent mechanical strength, namely, never becoming dull but remaining nervous are needed. However conventional fats for puff pastries cannot satisfy this requirement.